Something To talk about
by jannikajade
Summary: Harry and Hermioneliving together platonicaly suffer though a heat wave, get some exciting news, discuss some rumors, and make a discovery in day full of suprises. HHr mentioned RL. One shot.


**Authors Note: **Just a fluffy humorous(i hope) H/Hr fic, orginally written for the Harmony summer 2006 Challenge over at livejournal. (Challenge line:_Harry and Hermione are platonically sharing a flat and have to deal with a heatwave the muggle way_) One Shot.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter... blah, blah blah.

Hermione Granger could not remember ever being this hot. A heat wave had hit London the previous week, and it showed no signs of letting up. In fact, Hermione was pretty sure it was getting hotter with each passing day. It wasn't just hot, the air was filled with a sticky, muggy, unrelenting heat that it seemed impossible to escape. Her flat, the old brownstone she shared with Harry (who aside from all the giggles and eyebrow raises she has to put up with from other people, is the ideal flatmate), was perhaps the hottest place of all. She supposed they could simply find a spell or potion to cool things off, she was pretty sure she read about such things somewhere, but since the other residents of the building were all muggles, it seemed like a bad idea. She could only imagine what would happen should a neighbor knock at their door (which they did quite often, it was a very social building, so they always had to be on guard) and discover that somehow, despite the fact that the rest of the building was hovering at an unbearable 33C or so, their flat was a comfortable 21C. So, she and Harry had decided to stick it out the muggle way, reasoning that this was just one of the disadvantages of deciding to live on the other side of town from the Ministry and the high concentration of Wizards surrounding it.

Harry hadn't wanted to live someplace where he would be constantly asked to get his picture taken, or sign an autograph. Hermione thought that if they were to be living together, being a little on the outskirts would save her from having to tell people her and Harry were just fiends quite so many times a day. So they'd moved into this building, almost two years ago now, and overall it was good arrangement. Harry spent his days working with a special sect of aurors, rounding up the last of the death eaters. Hermione had found her niche working with a group of wizards and witches committed to bringing equality to all magical creatures. They spent most weekend evenings with Ron and Luna, who had become close through letters during the quest for Horecruxes, and had married shortly after Voldemort's defeat.

On this particular Saturday, Hermione had slept in until almost noon, simply because it was too hot to get out of bed. She was standing in front of the horridly inefficient fan, wishing it was actually helping, when Hedwig appeared on the fire escape (this had been a bit of problem at first, Harry and Hermione had eventually had to tell people to only send letters through Hedwig, because no other owl could seem to figure out how to come and go with out attracting attention, and it had taken some quick talking to explain the presence of owls to the neighbors). Hermione lazily pried herself away from the fan and took the letter from Hedwig's beak, and petted him absently on the head.

_Harry and Hermione,_

_Would have just popped over, but it's too bloody hot in that flat of yours. Wanted you to know Luna and I can't make it out for dinner later, it seems we won't be going out for drinks any time soon actually, as Luna's just found out she's pregnant. We're going out to Mum's tonight, I think she would kill me if we didn't, but feel free to come round tomorrow and congratulate us._

_Ron_

Hermione actually shrieked. She was pretty she hadn't shrieked in years, but this seemed like shriek worthy news. It also saved her from having to call Harry- he came running at the sound.

"What's wrong?? Are you ok?" He asked, instantly concerned. Harry still had a tendency to be a bit a paranoid, to instantly jump to the conclusion that something bad had happened. Hermione smiled and handed him the letter, trying to resist the girly urge to jump up and down. She almost laughed out loud at Harry's shocked expression, "Hermione," he said, "You do realize that this means _Ron_ is going to be father? Ron." He sat down on kitchen stool and looked at her, "when did we get old enough for that to happen?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but they have been married for two years, and really, I think it's very exciting." Hermione said, sitting down next to him.

"I could tell by your… shriek" he said, smirking at her.

"Hey, just because my first reaction wasn't to question Ron's parenting abilities…" she said smiling.

"I didn't mean to imply he'd be a bad father, I was just expressing shock at the thought of him being one." Harry defended himself.

"I know." she said.

"So that makes it just you and me for the day huh?" He asked after a pause, smiling.

"Yeah well, it's too hot to go out anywhere; it's too hot to move," she said, fanning herself with her hand.

"Well, I think you and I should a midday drink then. It will cool us down, and give us a chance to toast Ron and Luna, even if we're not seeing them." he said still holding the letter in his hand.

"As long as you make these midday drinks- I'm going to go change into something cooler, and send them an owl back our congratulations," She said, picking her thick hair up off her neck and piling it on her head.

"Meet you in the living room in ten minutes then?"

"Deal."

A few hours later, Hermione and Harry were laying on their living room floor (the floor was closer to the fan), heads and shoulders propped against the couch, watching a television program neither of them liked much. The day had gotten hotter as it wore on, and moving seemed as though it would take more energy then either of them could muster. They had been sitting in this position for almost two hours, making the occasional comment about the TV, the weather, Ron and Luna, or to weakly suggest getting up, even if it was just to make more drinks. The heat however, was making Hermione feel lazier than she could ever remember feeling in her life. Harry was running his had absently up and down her arm, they had gotten rather comfortable with innocent physical affection like this over the years,(their willingness to touch each other was of course just one more reason no one believed her when she said they were only friends), and that seemed like movement enough for the both of them.

"Hey Hermione?" Harry asked his voice slow and lazy sounding.

"Yeah?"

"Were you surprised, when Ron and Luna got together, I mean especially since you and Ron…" he trailed off, and turned his head to study her. He had, with this simple question, brought them into to new territory; they never discussed her and Ron, or him and Ginny, or any of the other men and women that had come briefly in and out of their lives in the years that followed. It seemed to work better this way, make it easier to avoid all the other unspoken things between them, and keep them solidly, strictly friends. Hermione had always been afraid that if they discussed these things, she would admit something she shouldn't and ruin their friendship, or at the very least make things awkward. The rules, it seemed, were about to change.

"Not at all. In fact I thought it made perfect sense" she said, "Ron and I, we were never anything real, we-" she paused and sighed, turning her head to meet his eyes, "we just needed to get each other out of our systems, so that we could move on, I mean we've barely fought in years, I think we both needed our little fling, it was part of growing up for us both." She finished. Harry nodded,

"You know, that's almost exactly what Ginny said to me, after Voldemort. I expected her to want to get back together, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to, and she said she really was over me, and that dating me was how she did it. That by being my girlfriend, she saw that she never really wanted to be my girlfriend in the first place, it was just-wish fulfillment I guess. Really, she was a wish fulfillment for me too, I got to be, for those few weeks, a normal guy." he said.

"You are aware that the common perception is that she broke your heart right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I've heard that, although I've also heard that Ron broke yours." He said, resuming running his fingers up and down her arm.

"People like to talk" she said.

"Yeah, and when you're the 'savior of the wizarding world' people seem to think that means they can say whatever they want about you" he said, smiling ruefully.

"You mean like that rumor about your torrid affair with Draco Malfoy?" she teased. He shuddered.

"I keep wondering when they'll get tired of that one. As my best friend you don't get off easy either, I did once hear that you and Remus were 'close', and actually I do believe you were said to have had a fling with Malfoy yourself" she laughed,

"We must be home wreckers then, as I heard you and Tonks spend a lot of 'quality time' together. And Harry, honestly get it right, many of those nights I was with Malfoy you were there too, mass orgy in the dungeons, I've even heard Ginny and Ron stepped in." He smirked,

"Yes well, I've heard you are madly in love with each and every member of the Weasley family. Sleep with them all apparently. Very dirty of you." She smacked him,

"Well you must have been busy yourself, as I heard that you slept with the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team, at once." she said

"Please tell me you made that one up." he begged. She laughed,

"Afraid not, although I've only heard it once or twice." she said.

"Cleary Hermione, we are both nymphomaniacs, we should probably seek treatment for that." He said, and they both burst out laughing. "Of course, we have forgotten the most prevalent rumor of them all," Harry said, moving his hand to hair, "You and I, as I'm sure you know, have been having sex for years, been in love since we were 11." She laughed, but the mood had changed with Harry's last statement, and she wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well yes, they just don't understand why we keep lying to them all with our shoddy just friends story." she said, trying to keep her tone light but not missing the way Harry was staring at her. "They don't know why we just don't come clean, and stop this little façade of ours. Since it can't be to spare Ron's feelings these days, with him happily married and all," She was rambling now, but something about the moment was making her nervous.

"Maybe-" he began, then stopped, and removed his hand from her hair. He turned his head away and sighed.

"Maybe what Harry?" she asked.

"Well, just, did you ever think, maybe they have a point?" he said.

"About us?" she asked, knowing what he was getting at, but needing him to spell it out.

"Yeah Hermione, about us. Maybe you only think of me as friend, and maybe it's never even crossed your mind that we could be more, but I've-" he stopped himself and stood up. "Voldemort is long defeated, Ron and Luna are going to have a baby, we're not kids anymore, and, maybe it's the heat talking, but I feel like I need to be honest. I'm in love with you Hermione. I have been for years" He said, and then shrugging, he started to walk away, as though he was afraid of her reply.

"Harry!" she said, jumping up heat forgotten, he turned around, and she pulled him to her, and kissed him. When they broke apart she said, "Did you really think I wasn't in love with you too?"

"You're the smart one around here, not me." he said, grinning at her and pulling her in for another kiss.

* * *

Naked, Hermione decided later, was they only way to deal with this sort of heat. She was lying on Harry's bed, and once again she was over taken by laziness. She could not fathom a reason for ever moving from Harry's side, for ever lifting her head from his chest, or her body out from under his arms. She was drenched with sweat, sore, and happier than she could ever remember being.

"We really should have done this years ago," He said.

"Definatly." she murmured, "Harry?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"How long have you known?"

"Honestly I think I knew when we were in the Department of Mysteries, searching for Sirius, and there was that moment, when I thought you were dead, but I didn't admit it to myself till much later, sometime after Voldemort was dead, it occurred to me that I was madly in love with you."

"I win then," she said smiling, "I've loved you since third year. I was so worried about Sirius Black killing you, I was so upset when you didn't speak to me for those few months, and then when you were so convinced your father had made that patronus and saved you, and then you realized it had been you, and you saved yourself- I knew."

"Hermione, that's ten years." Harry said, sounding a bit taken aback, and rather flattered.

"Well yes, but it wasn't like I pined away for you, I just knew I loved you, I just kind of existed with that knowledge. Really, I didn't think anything would ever come of it." She said, "But sometimes it's nice to be wrong." He grinned, then rolled over and pounced on her.

Hermione thought briefly, (before Harry's hands and mouth made thinking rather impossible) that this development would make the wizarding world grapevine very happy.


End file.
